Apparatus for forcing liquids charged with carbonic-acid gas.



Patented Aug. I5, |899.

E. GDAMTE. APPARATUS FOR FORCING LIlUIDS CHARGED WITH CARBONIC ACID GAS.

(Application led Apr. 1B, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet l,

(No Model.)

No. 631,008. Y Patented Aug'. I5, i899- E. GUUDAMTE.

APPARATUS FDR FRCING LIQUIDS CHARGED WITH CABBDNIC ACID GAS.

(Application filed Apr. 18, 1898.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2 (No Mdel.)

me ohms mns co.. PwoTaLrTuo.. wAsumnToN n c UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EMERY GOODAMO'IE, OF GLOVERSVILLE, NEV YORK, ASSIGNOR OF ONE- FOURTH TOWILLIAM E. BERRY, OF SAME PLACE.

APPARATUS FR FORCING LIQUIDS CHARGED WITH CARBONlC-ACID GAS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 631,008, dated August15, 1899.

Application filed April 18, 1898. Serial No. 678,015. (No model.)

To all whom. it may concern:

Be it known that I, EMERY GooDAMoTE, a citizen of the United States,residing at Gloversville, in the county of Fulton and State of New York,have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Forcing Liquids Chargedwith Oarbonic-Acid Gas, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to improvements in apparatus for forcing liquidscharged with carbonio-acid gas particularly adapted for dispensing maltliquor, such as ale, which, as is Well known, leaves a gummy residue inthe pipes or tubes and the faucets through which it flows; and theobjects that I have in view are to provide means by which the escape andpressure of gas from a cask may be noted by the bartender without goinginto the apartment in which the cask is stored, to provide for thestorage of gas which may escape from the cask when it is iirst vented,so that the gas may be used for charging the liquid drawn from the caskwhen partly emptied and its pressure is reduced, or said reserved gasmay be used in charging liquids drawn from other casks, and to providefor the attachment of the vent to and its disconnection from a caskwithout loss of the gaspressure or the escape of the liquid,particularly when the cask is fresh vented.

Vith these ends in view my invention consists in the novel constructionand arrangement of parts and in the combination of devices, which willbe 4hereinafter fully described and claimed.

To enable others to understand the invention, I have illustrated thesame in the accompanying drawings, forming apart of this specification,and in which- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation of the apparatus; Fig. 2is an enlarged section through the gas-receiver and its connections.Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view through the vent-valve,illustrating the vent-coupling applied thereto. Figs. et and 5 aredetail views of the improved type of the vent-valve. Fig. 6 is a detailsectional view of the vent-coupling detached from the vent-valve andembodying the device for opening and closing said valve. Fig. 7 is adetail view of a modified form of bushing and vent-nipple which isconnected the tlanged head 13.

may be used in connection with my apparatus.

Like numerals of reference denote like and corresponding parts in eachof the several iigures of the drawings.

Referring to Fig. l, the apparatus is illustrated in its entirety, inwhich l indicates a cask in which malt liquorsrare contained. 2 is thereserve-gas tank. 3 is the gas-receiver, 6o situated between the caskand the reservegas-tank. 4 is the pipe or tubing connecting thereserve-gas tank and the gas-receiver 3, and 5 is the pipe or tubingconnecting the cask with the gas-receiver 3.

The receiver 3 is supported in a vertical position by any suitablemeans, and it is made oi' glass or other suitable transparent material,said receiver being placed in a position within the view of thebartender or 7o other attendant to enable him to ascertain at a glancethe progress of the venting or escape of the gas from the barrel, aswell as determine the pressure of the gas by a suitable gage. This glassreceiveris provided with a conical bottom 6, which terminates in acontracted neck 8 and is formed with the annular ostanding flange 7below said contracted neck. At its upper open end said receiver isformed with an oft'standing flange 7 a, the pur- 8o pose ot' which willpresently appear. At the conical lower end of the receiver 3 is arrangedadraw-oi cock 9, having the iiange-base l0 fitted around the flange 7 ofthe neck 8, and

between the base of this cock and the lower 8 5 terminal of the receiveris interposed a gasket or packing 1l of any suitable material. On theneck 8 of the receiver, above the ange 7 thereon, is fitted a collar towhich is screwed or otherwise connected the ange 9o on the base 10 ofthe cock 9, thus detachably fitting said cock to the glass receiver.Tothe upper open end of the receiver 3 is fitted the head 13, which isprovided with a circumferential pendent tlange14., that incloses theflange 7n of said receiver, and beneath this liange is arranged thecollar l5, to which A gasket or packing 16 is interposed between theedge of the receiver 3 and the head 13 tomaintain roo a gas-tight jointbetween said head and the receiver, a similar joint being provided bythe gasket 11 between the lower hanged extremity 8 of the vessel and thedraw-off cock 9.

To the receiver-head 13 is ltted an automatic safety-valve 17, the shell18 of which is suitably attached in a central position t0 said head 13.Said shell 18 is constructed with a yoke-shaped support 19, to one armof which is hinged or fulcrumed, as at 2L, the valve-lever 20, the stemof the .valve being pivotally attached to said lever, as at 20". Thefree end of the lever carries a weight 22, which is adjustablelengthwise on the lever to enable the valvev to open under varyingpressures of gas in the receiver, and said lever plays in a hole or slotin the other arm of the yoke 19, which carries a screw 23, adapted toimpinge against the lever and to limit its upward movement and the areaof the valve-port, so as to restrict the escape of gas for the purposeof permitting said gas to escape slowly or rapidly as desired.

To the receiver-head 13, at one side of the safety-valve, is attached avalve-nipple 24, to which is connected one end of the pipe or tube 5,which leads to the cask, and to the receiverhead 13, on the oppositeside thereof from the nipple 24,is provided another valve-nipple 25,connected tothe branch pipe 26. This branch pipe has a series of valves28, to one of which is attached the tubing 4, which leads to thereserve-gas tank 2. To this branch pipe 26 is attached the pipe 27,having a suitable valve and communicating with the pressure-indicator29, the valve 30 in said pipe 27 serving to cut oii communicationbetween the pipe 26 and the indicator. In my apparatus the communicationbetween the gasreceiver and the reserve-gas tank 2 may be cut o byclosing the valve 28, to which the tubing 4 is attached.

The cask 1 is designed to be equipped with a vent-valve which is*peculiarly constructed to render the same self-clearing from thesediment which may accumulate therein owing to solidiiication of thegummy residue present in malt liquors, thus overcoming one of theserious objections heretofore experienced in apparatus designed for usein connection with the liquor known as ale. The ventvalve is providedwith a bushing or sleeve 31, which externally is of conical shape and isprovided with a male screw-thread 32 to enable said bushing to bescrewedtightly into one of the staves of the cask and to remain apermanent fixture thereon. The interior of the vent-bushing is ofcylindrical contour and provided with a female thread 33, and at itsouterend said bushingis formed with an integral flange or shoulder 34,which isdesigned to lie flush with the face of the ca sk-stave and tostrengthen the joint between said cask and thebushiug. The outer end ofthe bushing is open, but its inner end isprov-ided with a head 35,through which is formed a central port 36, adapted to permit of thepassage of liquid and gas from the cask to the tubing or pipe 5, whichleads to the gas-receiver 3. Vithin the bushing is fitted the valve-plug37, which is externally screwthreaded to engage with the female thread33, and this Valve-plug is made in a single piece of metal with aplurality of longitudinal equidistant recesses 38, forming a series ofvents for the passage of gas or liquid, or both, when the plug 37 isscrewed away from the port in the head 35. To the lower face of thevalve-plug is fitted a packing-disk 39,which is adapted to be pressedupon the head 35 of the bushing when the valve is screwed down into thebushing in order to make a tight joint be-A tween the head of thebushing and the Valveplug, and this packing is detachably secured inplace by means of a central single screw 40, which passes through thepackingl or gasket and is embedded in the solid plug. To render thevalve-plug self-clearing, I provide the same with a clearer prong orspur 41, which is rigidly attached or made integral with said valve-plugand is located at a point at one ,side of the vertical axis thereof.This clearerspur is thus eccentrically joined with the valve-plug, andit depends a suitable distance below said plug, so as to pass throughthe port 36 in the head of the bushing, and when the valve is rotated inorder to adjust it t0- ward or away from the bushinghead the clearerprong or spur is adapted to sweep close to or in actual contact with theWall of the port 36, and thereby positively remove any sediment whichadheres to the plug'and has a tendency to clog the port 36 and rcstrictthe passage of gas or liquid therethrough. In the upper exposed head ofthe valve-plug are provided the notches 42, arranged at right angles toeach other and adapted to receive the point of an implement by which thevalve may be adjusted for opening or closing the gas and liquid passagethrough the vent-bushing. W'ith this ventbushing is combined a coupling43, which may be attached to said bushing preliminary to vopening thevent, and said coupling is equipped with means to positively open orclose the vent-valve after the couplinghas been attached to the'bushingand before it i-s disconnected therefrom. This coupling con'- sists of aright-angled bod-y 44, one arm of which has a threaded flange toscrewinto theopen outer end of said bushing, thus detachably connectingthe coupling to'the bushing. At the juncture of its arms thisright-angled body has a stuffing-box 46, through which passes the shankof a screw-driver 47. The

extremity of the driver-shank protrudes beyond the stuffing-box and isequipped with a handle 48, by which the screw-driver may be readilyadjusted into engagement with the valve-plug and rotated in order toturn said plug in the bushing to or from the seat formed by the head 35.This adjuster 47 for the valve-plug has` its inner end widened andpointed, as at 49, to engage with the notched face of said valve --plugand said valve-adjuster or screw-driver 47 is a permanent fixture on thecoupling 43, so that when the coupling is attached to the bushing thevalveadjuster is always in position to be used by the operator inopening or closing the valve. The coupling 43 is further provided with adetachable nipple 50, to which may be connected one end of the tube orpipe 5, which leads to the gas-receiver 3, and the joint between thedetachable nipple 50 and the rightangular coupling-body is renderedgas-tight by t-he employment of a coupling 51.

The bushing 3l is designed to be permanently attached to the barrel orcask, and its threaded and shouldered construction strengthens the staveat the point Where the hole is formed therein to receive the bushing. Byproviding the clearer spur or prong at the inner end of the valve topass through the port in the bushing the said port is kept free fromaccumulations of sediment. The elastic washer or gasket on thevalve-plug may be replaced at any time by a new washer in order to keepthe joint tightly closed. The longitudinal recesses 38 on the threadedcircumferential face of the valve-plug provide an enlarged port for thefree escape of the gas, and should the recesses become clogged at anytime the accumulation may be loosened byl thrusting into the recesses aWire or other implement which is always accessible. The employment ofthe metallic bushing strengthens the stave of the cask so that thestaves are not liable to become bowed or broken every time the barrel isemptied, thereby saving the cost of a new stave. The valve-adjuster inthe coupling forms a part thereof and is always in place for service.The valve-plug may be tightly closed when the cask is emptied or lled,and in the latter instance the cask is kept tightly closed against theadmission of air to prevent the contents thereof from becoming sour ormusty, said valve also serving to prevent the hops and dregs fromrunning out through the bushing and over the iioor or sidewalk when theempty cask is removed from the cellar. My improvement permits the tubing5 to be readily disconnected from the coupling after the vent-valveshall have been closed by the adjustment of the screw-driver, afterwhich the coupling may be detached from the bushing of one barrel, thenapplied to the bushing of another barrel, the tube 5 attachedthereto,and the valveadjuster operated to open the valve in the freshcask. This cask is placed in a position where its gas is free to escapethrough the tube 5 into the receiver, and the disconnection of thecoupling from the filled cask to the empty cask may be elfected withoutsoiling the clothing or the loss of the liquid and does not require theemployment of any special tools such as bit-braces, tongs, wrenches, orany other implement. The valve-adjuster is not liable to get out oforder, and the simple rotation of such adjuster provides for the properopening or closing of the plug-valve.

By connecting the coupling to the bushing and the tubing or pipe 5 andattaching said tubing or pipe to the valve-nipple of the receiver 3,which is placed in full view of the attendant, the latter is able at anytime to ascertain whether any clogging takes place in the apparatus andto locate the obstruction. The attendant is also able to note theprogress of venting the barrel and to ascertain whether the liquid flowsfrom the cask along with the gas. If liquid is carried to the receiver3, it accumulates in the bottom thereof and can be drawn off at any timeby the cock 9, thereby keeping the cocks free from liquid and effectinga saving of the liquid which may escape from the cask with the gas. Theemployment of the pressure-gage enables the operator to determine thenumber of pounds of pressure to which the gas may be reduced, and byconnecting the receiver with the storage-tank the latter may be chargedwith the natural carbonic gas which escapes from the liquor contained inthe cask when the latter is first opened. The valve 28 in the branchpipe to the tubing or pipe 4, which leads to the gas-reserve tank 2, canbe closed to keep the gas therein in reserve until it is required to beused, while the remaining gas can be drawn off through the cocks for useuntil the pressure in theV cask and receiver is drawn down to thedesired point at which it is desired to maintain the gas pressure in the4cask. The plugvalve can be closed and the coupling disconnected at anytime when it is desired to lay aside one cask and bring another caskinto service, and the contents of the first cask may be charged withcarbonio gas stored in the reserve-gas tank 2. This adaptation of theapparatus is advantageous in the art,because it enables the aleorotherliquid to be charged with the natural carbonio gas instead offorcing therein foul air from the refrigerator or apartment, and myapparatus permits all of the escaping gas to be stored for subsequentuse in connection with liquor which may be deprived, more or less,of itsnatural gas. In case it is desired to allow of the escape of the gasfrom the receiver the safety-valve will allow the gas when it attains acertain pressure to flow through the port provided in its shell, and thepressure of gas may be kept at the desired point or varied by adjustingthe weight on the valve-lever toward or away from its fulcrum. Theemployment of the receiver and the safety-valve attracts the attentionof the bartender, who is able to ascertain the condition of the ventingwithout going into the cellar or apartment in which the cask is stored.

In Fig. 7 of the drawings I have represented another bushing which maybe used in connection with my apparatus in lieu of the device shown byFigs. 4 and 5. In this device I dispense with the valve and the adjusterin the nipple, which enables the nipple to be used in connectiontherewith. This bush- IOO IIO

ing is of conical form, externally threaded to screw into thebarrel-stave, and it is interiorly threaded at its upper end, as at 5l'.In applying the bushing a hole of the proper diameter is bored part waythrough a barrelstave, and the boring-tool is then withdrawn. Thebushing is now screwed into the partlybored hole, and a bit of a certaindiameter is fitted in the bushing, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 7,after which the nipple is screwed into the bushing, so as to inclose theshank of the boring-bit. The bit is operated through the bushing toremove enough of the barrel-stave material beneath the bushing to forman opening which communicates with the interior of the barrel and withthe bushing for the gas to pass to the vent-valve. It is not necessarythat the bushing shall pass entirely through the barrel-stave, nor is itnecessary that the boring-bit shall be removed, a perforated cap 46being employed in the construction shown byFig. 7 similarly to theconstruction illustrated by Figs. 3 and G.

As no novelty is herein claimed for the means for withdrawing the liquidfrom a barrel, I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate such drawingdevices, as any suitable appliance known to the art may be use for thispurpose.

I am aware that changes in the form and proportion of parts and in thedetails of construction may be made by a skilled mechanic Withoutdepartingfrom the spirit or sacrificing the advantages of the invention,and I therefore reserve the right to make such modifications as fallwithin the scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim isl. In aliquor-drawing apparatus, a vent consisting of a bushing having avalve-seat and a port, a valve-plug adjustable in said bushing,and aclearer movable with the valve and extending through the port in thebushing to sweep the wall of said port, substanport when said plug isrotated in the bushing, i

substantially as described.

8. In a liquor-drawing apparatus, a barrel or cask vent comprising aninternally-threaded bushing having a valve-seat at its inner end, athreaded valve-plug screwed into said bushing and provided with thelongitudinal recesses in its cylindrical threaded face, and with thetransverse notches in' its exposed face, a packing detachably secured tothe inner end of the valve-plug, and a clearer-prong carried by saidplug and passing through the valve-port, substantially as described.

4. The combination with a cask, of a bushing fixed to said cask andhaving an axial opening at its lower end of a diameter to permit thepassage of a tool therethrough into the cash, a right-angular bodyhaving a single olfstanding arm and a vertical passage, a tool withinsaid bushing to pass through the axial opening at the lower end thereof,a cap which closes the upper end of the passage in said body, and anipple, 50, screwed detachably to the single oifstanding arm of thebody, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixedmy signature in the presence of two witnesses.

y EMERY GOODAMOTE.

Witnesses:

LAWRENCE FAY, JOHN C. WASHBURN.

